Because I Love You
by Mere Anarchy
Summary: A short NaruSaku twoshot that describes how Naruto and Sakura cope, or don't cope, with Sasuke's departure.
1. Avoidance

She still wasn't used to it, his not being there. Every time Team 7 was together, she could feel the hole where he should be. Today, like any other day, was no different. She was the first to arrive at the bridge, the place that held more memories than she cared to remember. She was always the first one here, now; Naruto next and finally their perverted sensai. Before, she was never alone on that bridge. _He_, at least, had always been there, waiting for them.

Sasuke probably didn't know how badly he'd ruined their nice little routine. Scratch that, he probably knew and just didn't care. When had he cared for them? For her?

Sakura shifted uncomfortably. These thoughts were dangerous, taboo. Those lovely green eyes narrowed, her face contorted into a scowl. Sakura could feel the desperation well up inside her head– _cry_, she really need to—

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

Sakura felt herself gasp with relief. _Naruto was here._ Her eyes would remain dry, if only out of necessity, if only for a moment.

Turning her head, Sakura saw an orange blob speeding toward her, and finally skid to a stop just a foot to her left. Her blonde-haired teammate bounced up and down on his heels, grinning like a maniac. The kunoichi repressed a sigh, knowing it was wisest to just ignore him.

"Sakura-chan, did you–"

Whatever he wanted to find out would remain a mystery. "I need some time to think, Naruto," the pink-haired ninja interrupted, turning her body away from him restlessly. Then, as a barely civil afterthought, "Please."

She couldn't see his face, which was just as well. That expression in his eyes (lost, like nothing was alright or would ever be alright again) could only hurt her. And she didn't want to give him that chance. The only way to stay safe was to push him away, push them all away until she couldn't see them anymore and it was just her and the barely breathing sky.

Naruto didn't know this, of course; he would probably never figure it out. Naruto didn't know that every time she forced herself to turn away was just another wound on her damaged heart. Each time silence reigned over their lips, each time she walked away, Sakura was just saving herself.

For the moment, she figured she was safe. Not a word had passed between them since the boy's first attempt at conversation, and she figured there at least wouldn't be any until Kakashi showed up. And who knew when_ that_ would happen.

Naruto sighed noisily somewhere behind her and settled onto the ground, leaving Sakura to struggle with hiding a smirk at his Naruto-ness. Smiling, after all, wasn't a thing she did since _he_ left. Anything, really, that the old Sakura had done was shunned by this newer version of herself, washed away like a sand castle by the tide. And if only she was watching it, rather than doing it, she could feel some remorse. But here she was, caught in the middle of her own falling apart, and stopping it was no longer an option.

The was an awkwardness in the air, like the silence of two strangers in an elevator. It would be polite to say something, you know you really should, but you fumble to grasp a subject that would interest both parties. Besides, the silence will only last a little longer. . . just a little–

Naruto's chakra swirled angrily as he jumped to his feet, startling a few birds out of a tree but not surprising Sakura at all. She waited patiently for something to come out of that angrily gaping mouth, keeping her eyes steadily on her sandaled feet.

The moment of silence escalated into a drawn-out pause, and Sakura could feel the fox boy composing himself. There would be no outburst once he had himself under control, once he schooled his features to not betray his hurt. The pink-haired ninja supposed she should be grateful for this, but these days (_alone in a crowd, always alone_), it was hard to feel anything.

Since _he_ had left (she never said his name anymore if she could help it; he was dead to her and to this village; therefore undeserving of a name, and certainly an endearing suffix) she was getting worse and worse about confrontation. She just couldn't cope with the fact that if she confronted someone they might desert her for something less broken.

Oh, she knew that it wasn't her fault he left. Their last conversation, that brief exchange of love and hate, hadn't changed a thing in terms of importance. But wasn't it just easier, to blame everything on a single conversation and not her own idiocy? Wasn't it easier hide?

It was tearing Naruto apart. Their friendship (what little of it there was before _he_ left, and what little of it there was even now) was deteriorating. He thrived on confrontation. She avoided it at all costs. They didn't fit, and spending time together was like trying to combine two puzzle pieces that didn't even come out of the same box. It couldn't work, and both of them knew it.

At least, she assumed he knew it. But maybe. . . maybe he still clung to her and dreamed of a time when she was his Sakura-chan, pure and kind and _not broken_.

Sakura scoffed. There was no _maybe_ about it. The hurt in his eyes (the kind of secret pain that concerns no one because everybody has it) was rather telling. The two of them (_wasn't it odd to think of both of them, together?_) weren't healing like they should. They were rotting, rotting, and it was only a matter of time before—

"Sakura-chan, we need to talk."

So it was coming down to this. She'd always known it would. Last words and forgotten promises. It was coming down to this.

Naruto paused, waiting for her to say something, anything at all. Waiting for her to look at him, smile and say that everything was fine and they would get over _his_ departure, _together_. She didn't, of course, but he'd learned not to expect anything from this strangely broken-hearted creature next to him. He wondered if she knew how easy it would be to just reach out and touch him, to feel whole again. Wasn't it obvious?

The fox boy took a deep breath and began. "I want you to know that–"

"Wait, Naruto."

He froze, surprise written all over the face Sakura was avoiding. "I– I need to ask you something."

Naruto felt his muscles relax. This was familiar territory. He didn't know how to act around a mute, brooding Sakura; but talking he could handle. Talking was good.

"_How can you stand to be around me?_"

Naruto flinched. Maybe talking wasn't so good. A thought ran through his head, seemingly disconnected from the other, tumultuous undercurrents in his head.

_I know what she needs to hear. _

It was true, he did know what she needed to hear. It just wasn't what he needed to say. Naruto couldn't decide between the two, because it was one or the other, and either way someone would get hurt.

In the end it was her eyes, those magnificent eyes, that decided for him. So he whispered, feeling like the words were being torn from of his throat, "Because I'm your friend, Sakura-chan."

It was the right decision. Her eyes, her beautiful eyes, lost the anguished expression, lifted out of depression so easily it was almost amusing. The only problem was, Naruto could feel his own eyes dimming, drowning in tears so that her back looked blurry as she stood and walked away.

And it was only then, when she was so completely gone from him that he had no chance of ever getting her back, that he whispered the words he needed to say. "Because I love you."

So, drop me a line and tell me what you think. I think it's pretty self-explanatory, but if you have questions, ask! Oh, and this is my first story, so be gentle. : )

-Mere Anarchy


	2. Confrontation

She would've turned away, any other day on the calendar, but today was different. Today, Naruto hadn't smiled at her.

Sakura couldn't recall a day, _ever_, when Naruto hadn't acknowledged her. Even after Sasuke's departure, he'd made a point of smiling at her. It went _arrive at bridge, smile at Sakura, yell at Kakashi, train, go home_. There had once been a time scheduled for arguing with Sasuke, right between grinning at her and scolding their idiot sensai, but Sasuke had screwed up yet another routine by leaving. _He'd screwed everything up by leaving._ Each time Team 7 got together, there was a gap. A _hole_. Kind of like the hole in Sakura's heart.

Maybe Naruto finally realized _he_ had a hole, too. Maybe that was why, this stifling July morning, he seemed almost broken. . . almost like her. Maybe that was why he'd walked past her (_all the way to the other end of the bridge, and it was so far that it felt like hours until he got there_) and dropped to the ground in silence. Not even a glance her way.

Sakura knew, of course, that Naruto's abrupt disinterest in her was a good thing. She also knew that the telltale clenching of her heart was not. This, _not even a glance her way_, was something she'd been pushing for since Sasuke's departure and maybe even (unconsciously) before that. Worrying was useless.

Another clench of that fragile heart. _Useless, just like me._

For a moment, however brief, Sakura knew she wasn't useless because she couldn't stop Sasuke from leaving, or Kakashi from wasting away in front of the memorial stone. She was useless because she _could_ fix Naruto, fill the emptiness of his heart like water filling a vase, but she _didn't_.

It would be easy, to just reach out and touch him, _to be whole again_. But anything the old Sakura had done was shunned by this newer version of herself; easy was no longer an option. Wasn't it obvious? Didn't he see?

She would've turned away, any other day on the calendar, but today Naruto didn't smile at her, today he was so far from her it felt like they were miles apart. So she picked herself off the ground and tentatively settled herself near him, facing his back.

Sakura's throat felt dry and nervous; the irony of the situation did not escape her. How many times had Naruto faced her back, fumbling to grasp a subject that would interest both parties? Sakura had never even tried, because the silence would only last a little longer. . . just a little–

"We need to talk."

Her voice came out hoarse when she said those words; whether it was because they felt out of place on her tongue or she just wasn't used to talking at _all_, Sakura didn't know. Her only concern was that she'd waited too long to say them, _too long to say anything at all_. Her only concern was that he was so completely gone from her she had no chance of getting him back.

Naruto's eyes, those beautiful eyes, were swirling with emotion but somehow unreadable when he turned to face her. Sakura could _always_ read his expressions. _Except this once. Except this one time. . . _

"I– I need to ask you something."

Naruto flinched at her words, but this time there was no pain in his eyes, secret or otherwise. Simply that darkness, simply darkness that Sakura could not understand. What was _wrong_ with him? Where was the Naruto she knew yesterday, who was pure and kind and _not broken_?

Her voice was shaky, but she managed to speak. "You're– you're not my friend, are you?"

She felt a stinging sort of numbness when he soundlessly shook his head, and all the words she'd kept at bay came rushing up her throat like a hundred pigeons loosed upon the world, _wings beating against the grey sky, so eager to be freed_.

And the words may have rushed up her throat but she could only let go of a select few, _melting into those beautiful eyes of sky_. "Then what _are_ you?"

He was quiet, it was so quiet, until she finally lost it. All those tears, _like all those words_, were suddenly racing towards the surface, turning her inside-out so that anyone could see her pain, anyone at all. But just when she was about to break, just when she was about to let go, she felt steady arms around her and gentle hands on her back, _hands so gentle they could never hurt her like _he_ did_. He was holding her down, not holding her back. And when he whispered into her hair, "_I'm so much more_," Sakura knew he was here to stay. Here to hold her.

The odd broken-heartedness of the moment seemed empty, but Sakura could feel the fragments of their friendship rearranging into something new. Maybe they weren't so broken-hearted, so empty. Maybe they had just never known that they weren't complete unless they were together.

But there was still one more question she had to ask, one more issue to confront. Before she could stop the words from surfacing _(she knew she would never be able to hide from him, never again_) she asked, "Why have you always been here for me, Naruto?"

And he knew now that he could say it, that he could always say it. "Because I love you."

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A/N: I did it! I have now been successful in updating two stories that I said were complete and not updating my multi-chapter. Oh, well. I'm glad I did it anyway. As for further updates on this story, I'm not planning on it, but obviously that's not too reliable. Let's just say I'll think on it.

So, I hope you liked this new addition. Not only did I use references from the previous chapter, but I also added quite a few subtle (and not-so-subtle) references to my other stories, which I guess you would have to read to understand. That's unlikely, I suppose, because the pairings are different for each of my stories, but whatever. So, review if you feel like it. I'm not sure but their _might_ be a connection between me updating stories and the stories with the most reviews. Or maybe my muses are on drugs. Anything's possible.

-Mere Anarchy


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